Order of the National Coat of Arms

Order of the National Coat of Arms
Order of the National Coat of Arms
	2nd Class Badge of the Order of the National Coat of Arms
Type	Six class order
Awarded for	Special services rendered to the state
Country	Estonia
Eligibility	Estonian citizens only
Status	Currently awarded
Established	7 October 1936
	; 1st Class; ; 2nd Class; ; 3rd Class; ; 4th Class; ; 5th Class Ribbon bars of the Order of the National Coat of Arms
Precedence
Next (higher)	None
Equivalent	Cross of Liberty
Next (lower)	Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana

The Order of the National Coat of Arms (Estonian: Riigivapi teenetemärk, French: Ordre du Blason National) was instituted by Konstantin Päts on 7 October 1936 to commemorate 24 February 1918, the day on which Estonian independence was declared. The Order of the National Coat of Arms is bestowed only on Estonian citizens, as a decoration of the highest class for services rendered to the state.

Classes

The Order of the National Coat of Arms comprises six classes:

One special class – the Collar of the Order of the National Coat of Arms;
Five basic classes – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th class.

The greater national coat of arms as part of the decorations of all the classes of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, goldplated on both sides, bears on its reverse the embossed date "24. II 1918". The colour tone of the blue moiré ribands belonging to the decorations of all the classes of the Order of the National Coat of Arms is determined according to the international PANTONE colour-table as 285 C.

Collar

The collar of the Order of the National Coat of Arms is a badge of the office of the President of Estonia.^[1] Until 2008, the collar was unique. As, however, Russians during the Soviet occupation had taken that collar to the Armory Chamber (Оружейная палата, Oruzhejjnaja palata) in the Moscow Kremlin as a trophy and never have returned the collar to Estonia, a newly made copy is again worn by the President of Estonia as a badge of office.